President William Ruto has today ordered for immediate cancellation of the controversial energy and airport deals with Adani Group subsidiaries in the country following months of sustained public outrage and recent indictment of the Indian billionaire in a New York court over Sh32billion bribery and fraud case.
Warrant of arrests have since been issued by a US based court against Adani Group founder and chairman Gautam Adani and seven of his close associates by the United States over Sh32.3 billion ($250m) alleged bribe to India government officials.
“I have stated in the past, and I reiterate today, that in the face of undisputed evidence or credible information on corruption, I will not hesitate to take decisive action.” resident Ruto during his State of the Nation address today in Parliament.
The Indian conglomerate recently signed a 30 years Sh95.7billion project with the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) with Adani Enregy Solutions Limited (AESL) and Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL) was negotiating with the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) for a lease agreement for Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) for a period of 30 years.
Both cases are currently before the High Court following petitions opposing them.
However, it remains unclear the amount of loses the Kenya taxpayers’ stand to lose arising from breach of contract since the Ketraco-AESL Sh95.7billion contract had already been signed.
On October 9, 2024, the government through Ketraco signed the contentious Sh95.7 billion deal with Adani Energy Solutions for the development, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of key transmission lines and substations for a period of 30 years.
Through Adani Airport Holdings, the Indian conglomerate was also negotiating for a lease agreement with Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) to manage Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) for a period of 30 years.
“Accordingly, I now direct in furtherance of the principles enshrined in Article 10 of the Constitution on transparency and accountability, and based on new information provided by our investigative agencies and partner nations – that the procuring agencies within the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum immediately cancel the ongoing procurement process for the JKIA Expansion Public Private Partnership transaction, as well as the recently concluded Ketraco transmission line Public Private Partnership contract, and immediately commence the process of onboarding alternative partners.
Under the deal which has since been halted by the High Court until a petition filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) is heard Adani Energy Solutions was to finance, develop and manage a 400kV Gilgil-Thika-Malaa-Konza Line which spans 208.73km.
The project component also included seven substations and a 220kV Rongai-Keringet-Chemosit Line which covers 99.98km.
The firm was also set to construct a third power transmission line which is a 132kV from Menengai,Ol Kalou and Rumuruti covering 89.88km and three substations.
Other project components are 400/220kV substation at Lessos and another 132/33kV substation at Thurdibuoro enhance power access and stability.
The orders issued by Justice Bahati Mwamuye also barred KETRACO from entering any new agreement or furthering any existing agreements until the matter is heard and determined.
According to the BBC, in the indictment, prosecutors alleged the tycoon and other senior executives had agreed to the payments to Indian officials to win contracts for his renewable energy company expected to yield more than $2bn in profits over 20 years.
The conglomerate has been operating under a cloud in the US since 2023 when a high-profile company published a report accusing it of fraud. The claims, which Adani denied, prompted a major market sell-off.
Reports of this bribery probe have been circling for months. Prosecutors said the US started investigating the company in 2022 and found the inquiry obstructed.
They allege that executives raised $3bn in loans and bonds, including from US firms, on the backs of false and misleading statements related to the firm’s anti-bribery practices and policies, as well as reports of the bribery probe, the BBC reported.
